Oil discovery in the North
After several years of concerted efforts in the search for crude oil deposit in the North East, the huge human and technological investments has paid off. Last week, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] announced the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River II Well of the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin in Bauchi […]
After several years of concerted efforts in the search for crude oil deposit in the North East, the huge human and technological investments has paid off. Last week, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC] announced the discovery of hydrocarbon deposits in the Kolmani River II Well of the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin in Bauchi State. The discovery came 20 years after experts came up with hypothesis that there was oil deposits in the region. It took the use of modern, cutting edge technologies to make this breakthrough, though NPPC and other stakeholders attribute the achievement to the resilience of President Muhammadu Buhari who, in 2016, insisted that the search should be intensified.
We congratulate NNPC for this discovery, considering the effort and resources put in. This development will boost the country’s revenue base, as crude oil and its byproducts remain relevant in the energy sector all over the world. Furthermore, we encourage NNPC to put in the same determination, commitment, resources and technologies to the search for crude oil deposits in other parts of the North, especially those areas where preliminary research has shown there could be deposits of hydrocarbon.
In spite of the fact that this news is cheering, it is imperative for NNPC to ensure that oil exploration is done in line with global best practices. First, a thorough environmental impact assessment should be done to ensure that oil exploration does not endanger the people and environment. It is well-known that oil and gas drilling is dirty business because of its devastating impacts on water resources, human health, wildlife, recreation and other aspects of public land. For instance, oil spill in the Niger Delta has had long-term environmental impact and devastating effects on animals and farmlands in the region. It is one of the causes of agitation in the South-South over the years. Government should have learned its lessons. It should ensure that from the take-off point of the oil exploration in Bauchi State, such negative effects are forestalled.
Apart from the environmental effects of ‘dirty oil business’ on the Niger Delta, criminalities like oil theft and outright piracy have dogged the sector. These must be dealt with in future plans for the North-East. The interest of host communities should not be ignored, as a project of this magnitude would definitely lead to the displacement of thousands of persons in the area where oil drilling would take place.
It is important to emphasize the fact that crude oil is not an end in itself, as its export has not done good for those countries that depend on oil and gas. It is necessary to ensure that Nigeria, in spite of the oil-find, heals itself of the ‘Dutch Disease’ which has plagued the country over the years. The Dutch Disease is an allusion to a situation in Netherlands in the 1960s, when the country abandoned the manufacturing of goods for export as a result of its huge crude oil earnings. The consequence is that indiscretion was the near-collapse of other sectors of the Dutch economy, until the country healed itself of the malaise.
We, therefore, call on government to see beyond crude oil and encourage investment in other sectors in order to boost the economy. For instance, Nigeria has not maximized the industrial potentials that abound in the agriculture sector. Also, the mining sector has been left in the hands of illegal miners. In both the agriculture and mining sectors, industries that would add value to the raw materials are not available. If these sectors are given attention, they would employ many more persons than the oil sector would.
It should be noted further that the future of the oil sector is very cloudy as the world is stepping into the eras of electric cars, biogas, biofuel and other alternative sources of energy. The oil-find in the North-East is a significant development, but Nigeria should endeavour to look beyond crude oil export.